• Fortunately, the tour handled our baggage!

• Nicholas I

• Nicholas I

• St. Isaac's Cathedral

• St. Isaac's Cathedral

• St. Isaac's Cathedral

• St. Isaac's Cathedral

• St. Isaac's Cathedral

• St. Isaac's Cathedral

• St. Isaac's Cathedral

• St. Isaac's Cathedral interior

• St. Isaac's Cathedral interior

• St. Isaac's Cathedral interior

• St. Isaac's Cathedral interior

• St. Isaac's Cathedral interior

• St. Isaac's Cathedral interior

• St. Isaac's Cathedral interior

• St. Isaac's Cathedral interior

• St. Isaac's Cathedral interior

• St. Isaac's Cathedral interior

• St. Isaac's Cathedral interior

• St. Isaac's Cathedral interior

• St. Isaac's Cathedral interior

• St. Isaac's Cathedral interior

• Looking across the River Neva at the Peter and Paul Fortress

• The Peter and Paul Fortress

• The Peter and Paul Cathedral within the Fortress. The remains of most of the Romanov tsar's are interred here.

• Inside the Peter and Paul Cathedral

• Inside the Peter and Paul Cathedral

• Inside the Peter and Paul Cathedral

• Inside the Peter and Paul Cathedral

• Inside the Peter and Paul Cathedral

• Inside the Peter and Paul Cathedral

• Inside the Peter and Paul Cathedral

• Inside the Peter and Paul Cathedral

• Inside the Peter and Paul Cathedral

• Inside the Peter and Paul Cathedral

• Inside the Peter and Paul Cathedral

• Inside the Peter and Paul Cathedral

• The memorial to Tsar Nicholas II and his family, who were executed in 1918 following the Bolshevic Revolution

• The memorial to Tsar Nicholas II and his family who were executed in 1918 following the Bolshevic Revolution

• Closeup of the memorials to daughters Maria and Anastasia

• This brings a new meaning to the term 'porta-potty'

• By tradition, when a couple gets married they place a lock on this bridge railing to signify their commitment.

• Lunch in the Russian Club Restaurant

• Mikhail Gorbachev spoke to our group through an interpreter.

• The Russian Museum

• The Russian Museum

• Detail on the Russian Museum

• After the fall of Constantinople in 1453, Moscow claimed succession to the legacy of the Eastern Roman Empire. Ivan III married Sophia Palaiologina, the niece of the last Byzantine emperor Constantine XI, and made the Byzantine double-headed eagle his own, and eventually Russian, coat-of-arms. We will see many variations of this symbol in our travels in Russia.

• The Church of Spilled Blood

• The Church of Spilled Blood

• The Church of Spilled Blood

• The Church of Spilled Blood

• The Church of Spilled Blood

• The Church of Spilled Blood

• The Hermitage Museum, formerly the Tsar's Winter Palace. That's the River Neva in the foreground.

• The Hermitage Museum

• Inside the Hermitage Museum

• Inside the Hermitage Museum

• Inside the Hermitage Museum

• Inside the Hermitage Museum

• A staircase in the Hermitage Museum

• A chandelier in the Hermitage Museum

• A mosaic in the Hermitage Museum

• Ceiling detail in the Hermitage Museum

• A description of the Hermitage's copy of the Vatican's Raphael loggia

• The copy of the Vatican's Raphael loggia at the Hermitage

• Ceiling detail in the Raphael loggia

• Michelangelo, The Crouching Boy

• Michelangelo, The Crouching Boy

• Francisco de Goya, Portrait of the Actress Antonia Zarate - 1810-1811

• Rembrandt van Rijn, Portrait of an Old Man in Red

• Rembrandt van Rijn, Portrait of an Old Man in Red

• Camille Pissaro, Boulevard Montmartre. Sunny Afternoon - 1897

• Claude Monet, Poppy Field - 1887

• Claude Monet, Meadows at Giverny - 1888

• Eugène Boudin, Beach at Trouville - 1893

• Pablo Picasso, Absinthe

• Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Woman with Umbrella (Berthe the Deaf in the Garden of Monsieur Forest) - 1889

• Vincent van Gogh, Thatched Cottages - 1890

• Vincent van Gogh, Memory of the Garden at Etten (Ladies of Arles) - 1888

• Vincent van Gogh, Bush - 1889

• Paul Gauguin, Woman Holding a Fruit - 1893

• Henri Matisse, Nude (Black and Gold) - 1908

• Henri Matisse, View of Collioure - ca 1905

• Henri Matisse, Fruit, Flowers, and the Panel 'Dance' - 1909

• Henri Matisse, Bouquet (Vase with Two Handles) - 1907

• Henri Matisse, Still Life with Dishes and Fruit - 1901

• Pierre Bonnard, Morning in Paris - 1911

• Pierre Bonnard, Evening in Paris - 1911

• Maurice Denis, The Visitation - 1894

• Pablo Picasso, Two Sisters (The Visit) - 1902

• Pablo Picasso, Bust of a Nude - 1907

• Pablo Picasso, Friendship - 1908

• Pablo Picasso, Nude - 1909

• Pablo Picasso, Young Woman - 1909

• Pablo Picasso, Violin and Guitar - ca 1912-13

• The throne room at the Hermitage

• The throne room at the Hermitage

• Throne

• Ceiling panel with the double-headed eagle symbol in the throne room

• Detail of the double-headed eagle symbol

• Chandelier detail in the throne room

• Netherlandish Master, Portal - 15th century

• We had lunch in Connect Restaurant, which is located in the National Communications Museum

• Entertainment at lunch in Connect Restaurant

• Entertainment at lunch. This is one person dancing in this costume.

• The afternoon was spent at Peterhof, Peter the Great's Palace on the Gulf of Finland

• Entering Peterhof

• Peterhof Palace and Chapel

• Peterhof

• Fountains on the Gulf of Finland side of Peterhof

• Peterhof and fountains

• Peterhof and fountains

• The chapel at Peterhof was undergoing renovation

• Looking back at Peterhof from the direction of the Gulf of Finland

• We took the hydrofoil back to St. Petersburg. It was about a thirty minute ride, about half of what the bus ride took to reach Peterhof.

• Hydrofoil

• Inside the hydrofoil

• Dave and Judi Gavin

• Gideon Ariel and Ann Penny

• Jack and Judith Kordash

• Toasting with vodka

• A shot of vodka was provided at every lunch and dinner in St. Petersburg

• We were bussed to Pushkin to visit the Catherine Palace, also known as the Summer Palace. We were entertained by this band before the Palace opened.

• Our guide Marina

• Bert Patenaude, the Smithsonian Lecturer, and Tom O'Brian, the Lindblad Tour Leader in Russia

• Another double-headed eagle

• Catherine Palace, also known as the Summer Palace

• Catherine Palace, also known as the Summer Palace

• Catherine Palace

• The Chapel at the Catherine Palace

• The Chapel at the Catherine Palace

• Catherine Palace detail

• Catherine Palace detail

• The private side of the Catherine Palace

• The private side of the Catherine Palace

• The private side of the Catherine Palace

• The private side of the Catherine Palace

• The private side of the Catherine Palace

• A statue on the grounds of the Catherine Palace

• The grounds of the Catherine Palace

• The grounds of the Catherine Palace

• The Chapel at the Catherine Palace

• The Chapel at the Catherine Palace

• The Chapel at the Catherine Palace

• The domes of the Chapel

• The domes of the Chapel

• The domes of the Chapel

• Chapel detail

• Just outside of the Catherine Palace

• Podvorye Restaurant, our lunch stop in Pushkin

• Podvorye Restaurant, our lunch stop in Pushkin

• Podvorye Restaurant

• Podvorye Restaurant

• Podvorye Restaurant

• The greeter at Podvorye Restaurant

• Inside Podvorye Restaurant

• Inside Podvorye Restaurant

• Detail of the chinking between the logs of the restaurant building

• Lunchtime entertainment

• Lunchtime entertainment

• Lunchtime entertainment

• The singer in the band

• The singer in the band

• Lunchtime entertainment

• Kathryn & Doug Collins, Still life with vodka - 2010

• A drive-by photo of a government building on our way back from Peterhof

• Catherine the Great

• Plaque on the Catherine the Great statue

• Catherine the Great

• Catherine the Great

• The back of the Catherine the Great statue showing the flowing robe

• Catherine the Great

• Kathryn with Peter the Great

• Doug with Peter the Great

• The Peter the Great statue was commissioned by Catherine the Great

• Peter the Great

• Peter the Great

• Peter the Great

• Peter the Great

• On Senate Square, where the Peter the Great statue is located. This square was formerly known as Decembrist's Square because the ill-fated December 1825 revolt against the assumption of Nicholas I to the throne took place here.

• The Hermitage and the Alexander Column from the Palace Square

• The Hermitage from the Palace Square

• Looking south across the Palace Square from the Hermitage one sees the former Imperial Army General Staff building (built between 1819 and 1829 by the Italian architect Carlo Rossi). It incorporates the triumphal arch celebrating the Russian victory over Napoleon. The building now houses Russian government offices. A bicycle rally event was taking place in the square that day.

• A bronze sculpture of Victory in her six-horsed chariot sits atop the triumphal arch of the Imperial Army General Staff building. Two Roman soldiers restrain the outermost horses, as if to prevent the team from leaping out onto the square.

• Cathedral of Our Lady of Kazan, built in 1811 by Andrey Voronikhin

• Cathedral of Our Lady of Kazan

• The Grand Hotel Europe, our home in St. Petersburg

• The Grand Hotel Europe, our home in St. Petersburg

• The Grand Hotel Europe, our home in St. Petersburg

• Our room at the Grand Hotel Europe

• It was common to see American fast food franchises in Russia...

• ...especially McDonalds